Important Commissions and Committees During British

• British education policy was dualistic, emphasising western education and the English language while discouraging the prevalent oriental educational system.
• The British East India Company initially had little interest in enhancing the educational system because its main priorities were trade and financial gain. They intended to educate a small percentage of the high and middle classes in India to create a class that was “Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste.”
• They were asked to serve as the government’s and the general public’s interpreters. The “downward filtration theory” was the name given to this. Additionally, the Hunter Commission will be used to discuss everything.

Charles Wood Despatch – 1854 – Lord Dalhousie

• The purpose of Wood’s despatch was to enhance the educational system by offering several proposals.
• The government’s approach was said to be intended to promote western education by the guidelines. He placed a strong emphasis on European education in the liberal arts, sciences, philosophy, and literature in his dispatch.
• The Wood’s Despatch’s motto was, in essence, the spread of European wisdom.
• The message states that English would be the primary language of instruction for higher education.
• However, Wood did not downplay the importance of the vernacular language since he thought that it may serve as a vehicle for spreading European knowledge to the general public.
• At the most basic level, Wood’s Despatch also recommended establishing several local primary schools in the villages.
• Additionally, the district level should have Anglo-Vernacular high schools and an affiliated college.
• A system of grants-in-aid was suggested by Wood’s Despatch to promote and encourage private entrepreneurship in the field of education.
• The institution has to hire qualified teachers and uphold appropriate teaching standards to get aid payments.

Hunter Commission – 1882 – Lord Ripon

• Viceroy Lord Ripon made the appointment.
• The Hunter Education Commission was a historic body whose goals were to investigate concerns about the Wood’s Despatch of 1854 not being implemented, assess the current state of elementary education in the British territories, and provide recommendations for how to expand and improve it.
• Sir William Wilson Hunter is in charge. In 1882, he submitted the report.

Recommendations:

1. At the high school level, there should be two different sorts of educational arrangements, with an emphasis on providing commercial and vocational education as well as various types of literary education that will aid in admission to the university.
2. Arrangements are made to place a strong focus on the value of primary education, as well as education in the local language and practical topics.
3. Though primary education should be provided without him, private efforts in the sphere of education should be encouraged.
4. The district and city boards should be given authority over primary education.

Raleigh Commission – 1902 – Lord Curzon

• Raleigh Commission was chosen on January 27, 1902, when Sir Thomas Raleigh served as its president.
• Goal: To conduct research on the state and future of Indian universities and to make recommendations for strengthening their governance and operations.
• The Commission was unable to report on either primary or secondary education.
• The Commission’s report and recommendations led to the passage of the Indian Universities Act in 1904.
• The Act’s primary goal is to enhance the state of education in India and raise the bar for the system.

Recommendations:

1. Universities had the authority to choose their employees, including the faculty. A university could have no more than 50 to 100 fellows.
2. For the universities in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, there would be 20 elected fellows, while there would be 15 for the other universities.
3. Now, the Governor-General might determine the territorial bounds of a university as well as the affiliation between universities and colleges.
4. Although there were fewer colleges when the University Act’s provisions went into effect, there were still a lot more students.

Government Resolution on Education Policy – 1913

• The progressive state of Baroda made primary education mandatory throughout all of its boundaries in 1906.
• The government declined to take on the responsibility of compulsory education in its 1913 Resolution on Education Policy, but it accepted the policy of eliminating illiteracy and urged provincial governments to start early efforts to provide free elementary education to the poorer and more disadvantaged sections.

Sadler Commission – 1917 – Lord Chelmsford

• Sadler Commission was established in 1917 with the mandate to investigate the “conditions and prospects of the University of Calcutta.”
• The panel made numerous recommendations, including the creation of a board with complete authority over secondary and intermediate education.
• It also suggested that excessive official control of universities be removed.
• Additionally, it suggested that the government quit meddling in university academic affairs.

Recommendations:

1. It is important to arrange all of the teaching materials available in Calcutta so that the university may only focus on teaching.
2. Dacca should host a unique teaching and residential university.
3. An organisation to act as a coordinator was required. Therefore, a Board of Universities should be established.
4. There should be Honors courses introduced, and they ought to differ significantly from Pass courses.
5. The Vice-Chancellor should be chosen to serve as the university’s administrative leader on a full-time, salaried basis.
6. The Court and the Executive Council, respectively, should take the position of the Senate and the syndicate.
7. Excessive government oversight should be removed from universities.
8. Government should quit meddling in university academic affairs.

Hartog Commission – 1929 – Lord Irwin

• The British Indian government commissioned the Sir Philip Joseph Hartog Committee to research the expansion of education in India.
• Mass education received greater attention from the Hartog committee in 1929 than secondary and higher education did.
• The Hartog committee brought attention to the issue of waste and stagnation in primary education.
• Instead of expanding the number of schools, it advocated for consolidation. The introductory course was to last for a stipulated four years.
• The quality, remuneration, and working conditions of instructors should all be improved, and the curriculum and instructional strategies should be tailored to the towns and communities where they will be used.
• To address the issue of unemployment, the Hartog committee on education proposed that universities promote technical and business education.
• The Hartog committee’s 1929 report was an effort to stabilise and consolidate education. The government’s initiative to raise educational standards was led by the Hartog committee of 1929, which was regarded as its standard-bearer.
• Due to the severe economic downturn of 1930–1931, this Hartog Committee of 1929 proposals stayed only on paper and were never put into action.

Recommendations:

• Adoption of the consolidation strategy rather than building more schools.
• Fixing the primary course’s length at four years.
• The quality, prestige, compensation, and working conditions of teachers are all being improved.
• Relating the teaching techniques and curricula to the circumstances in which children live and read in villages.
• Modifying school schedules and vacations to meet local and seasonal needs.
• The government should hire more inspectors.

Sargent Plan – 1944 – Lord Wavell

• After Sir John Sargent was tasked with creating a thorough educational plan for India in 1944, the Sargent plan of education was created.
• The goal of the plan was to establish in India, over a minimum of forty years, the same level of educational achievement as was previously recognised in England.

Recommendations:

1. Pre-primary education is provided for kids between the ages of 3 and 6. All kids between the ages of 6 and 11 (junior basic) and 11 and 14 must receive universal, free, and mandatory primary or basic education (senior basic).
2. Selected youngsters between the ages of 11 and 17 receive a six-year high school education.
3. Degree programme lasting three years for chosen individuals beginning after the higher secondary exam
4. For full-time and part-time pupils, technical, commercial, agricultural, and artistic education is provided; domestic science is taught in females institutions.
5. In around 20 years, adult illiteracy will be eradicated and a public library system will be established.
   full support for teachers’ appropriate training.
6. Children who are physically and mentally challenged receive special education services.
7. The establishment of required physical education.
8. There should be space set aside for social and recreational pursuits.
9. establishing employment bureaus
10. both in the federal government and the states, the Department of Education was established.
11. All secondary schools must employ the mother tongue as the primary language of instruction.

Important Famine commissions and committees during British rule in India

British interests in India during the British Raj were not just restricted to trade and financial gain; they also took a deep interest in social issues, but with caution and disregard. This is the only justification for their criticism of Indian cults, practices, and traditions, as well as the inadequate famine measurements that led to a series of artificial famines in India.

Campbell Commission – 1866 – Sir John Lawrence

• The Orissa famine, so named because it was most severe in Orissa, occurred in 1865–1866, and it affected Orissa, Bengal, Bihar, and Madras. It claimed over 20 lakh lives, with Orissa alone losing 10 lahks.
• Despite being warned, government officials did nothing to prepare for the disaster.
• The government provided table-booked men with employment while leaving the work of charitable relief to the volunteer agency, adhering to the principles of free trade and the law of demand and supply.
• However, the famine proved to be a watershed moment in the history of famines in India since it was followed by the appointment of a commission led by Sir George Campbell.
• This Commission was established by the British government to look into the reasons behind the famine in Odisha and make recommendations on how to avoid it from happening again.
• It proposed emergency measures while blaming the government apparatus for the disaster.

Stretchy Commission – 1880 – Lord Lytton

• Sir Richard Strachey served as its chairman when it was established in 1878.
• In the case of famine, the commission suggested government intervention in the food trade. In 1896–1897, there was a significant famine in India.
• As a result of the Campbell Commission report’s lack of seriousness, the British Government established this commission.

Recommendations:

• There should be a Famine Code created.
• Irrigation facilities should be built.
• During famines, land revenue collection should be stopped promptly, and land revenue should be remitted.
• Information about the state of Indian agriculture and the peasantry should be gathered.
• Setting up a famine fund is necessary.

Lyall Commission – 1886 – Lord d Elgin-II

• It was established in 1897 with Sir James Lyall as its chairman. This commission suggested building irrigation infrastructure.

MacDonnell Commission – 1900 – Lord Curzon

• It was established in 1900, with Sir Anthony (Later Lord) McDonnel as its chairman, to review and suggest revisions to the previous commission’s report in light of the results of the most recent famine.
• This Commission advised that to effectively handle the shortage of food grains, the official apparatus dealing with a famine should operate throughout the year.

Important Currency commissions and committees during British rule in India

The list below includes committees and commissions that the British established for currency reforms throughout the colonial era.

Mansfield Commission – 1886 – Dufferin

• The British-run Government of India established the Indian Currency Committee, often known as the Fowler Committee, on April 29, 1898, to investigate the country’s existing state.
• Silver served as the primary base metal for Indian coins and money up until 1892. The Indian government declared its intention to “shut Indian mints to silver” in 1892, and in 1893 it put this policy into effect.

Other Important  commissions and committees during British rule in India on Currency:

1. Fowler Commission by Elgin II in 1898
2. Babington Smith Commission by Chelmsford in 1919
3. Hilton Young Commission by Linlithgow in 1926

Important Law commissions and committees during British rule in India

• Law Commissions in India have a pre-independence origin. The first Law Commission was formed in 1834 as a result of the Charter Act, of 1833 under the chairmanship of TB Macaulay.
• The first commission’s recommendations resulted in the codification of the penal code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
• Three other law commissions were constituted before independence by the British government.
• All four pre-independent law commissions have contributed to the statute books immensely.
• After independence, the first Law Commission was constituted in 1955 in a continuance of the tradition of bringing law reforms in the country through the medium of law commissions.
• Second Pre-Independence Law Commission,1853 – Sir John Romilly.
• Third Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1862- Sir John Romilly.
• Fourth Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1879 – Dr Whitley Stokes.

Other Important Commissions and committees during British rule in India

The Princely States created the Indian Public School Education in 1822 to manage India’s education, which had been dominated by Orientalists who supported Oriental study over Anglicans. To advance Western education, they put a lot of pressure on the British India Company.

The Lord Macaulay Education Policy of 1835 aimed to create a university committee that would only teach the upper class in English. Before the entrance of the British, Hindus and Muslims received their education at Pathsala and Madrassa, but the Missionaries emerged as a new educational institution as a result of the British.

Article written by Aseem Muhammed